Love Blossoms
by Brolley
Summary: When Shikamaru and Sakura are sent to the Tea country on a mission to collect information on an underground weapons trade will love blossom between them? or will a certain Uchiha make an appearance and force Sakura to choose between him and her country.


_Okay, first chapter here just a bit of a background story before the main characters make an appearance_

_First ever fanfiction so review constructive or nicely~_

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><p>Chapter 1.<p>

The sun sat low in the sky, casting morning shadows across the land of fire. the morning dew was slowly becoming less and less frequent on the leaves, leaving for yet another morning. The subtle crunching of the dirt under the wooden wheels became louder as the cart made its way through the clearing. Stacked high with Sencha tea threatening to fall if a deep enough ditch was hit. Humming to himself, unaware of the masked figures following him, the man skillfully maneuvered the cart around the holes and continued on his way to a small town on the border of the Fire country.

"Is this the one?" Asked the man in the dog mask. Konoha ANBU had been following the cart for a few hours, deciding the appropriate time to intervene. The four man squad was given information that said cart was carrying prohibited, unapproved weapons to civilian villages. Tsunade had sent them out as soon as the information was received, False or not she would not have any threats to Konoha no matter how minute or grand, not after the Attack Pein had caused that sent so many lives into turmoil, homes and structures that were sent crashing to the ground and the spirits that were dampened for so long afterward. She would never put her village through strife again and she was damned if an underground weapons trade was going to be the cause.

"Looks like we're going to find out." The ANBU captain smirked at his 3 man cell before lowering his mask and falling gracefully in front of the cart, the other three followed their captain's lead before landing around the halted cart with a very frustrated driver.

"What is going on?" The man yelled at the four intruders, who had circled around him, "Get out of it, I've got to make the delivery on time" His face was now tormented with anger, scowling at the ANBU in front of him.

"The boss will have my head if I'm late with another order, so get out of my way." His voice had risen in volume, trying to intimidate the shinobi that stood before him. His words rang loud and echoed into the surrounding trees that lined the dirt road. His temper now reaching its limit, the man tried to push forward, using his cart as a weapon to nudge the ninja in front of him to the side.

Unsuccessful.

The katanas were pulled hastily from the back holsters of the Konoha shinobi, held in a defensive position. The cart came to an abrupt halt; shaking the precious tea as it dangerously balanced close to the edge.  
>"Kotaru-San, is it?" The ANBU captain spoke formally. "We do not mean harm, just a routine cargo check we need to do. Black market trading has been happening through innocent companies and we just need to make sure your load is clean" The nameless Shinobi's tone had turned to a fake, cheerful rant.<br>Kotaru's face instantly settled, holding an embarrassed look before returning to the gruff, poker face he held before the 'incident' had taken place.  
>"Well someone could've said something earlier!" a small chuckle left his mouth "I thought you were a bunch of thieves trying to take the tea. Not something i see on every trip i make but it is an odd occurrence. The roads aren't safe when you travel alone, so you learn to keep your guard up on all occasions." His voice had turned friendly and was now smiling at the captain who stood in front of him.<br>" Well Kotaru-San, you can't be too careful out here." responded the shinobi.

"Open it up!" Was the order that was given.  
>And with a swift motion, the hessian bags were slashed open, the grounded littered in dried tea leaves and the thud of metal hitting the ground.<br>Dozens of modified kunai, poisoned senbons and foreign weapons scattered the road. The sources were correct, the Isamu tea company have been infiltrated by the underground weapons trade.

"WHAT? Where did these come from? I swear I had no idea. They're not mine." Kotaru became flustered, seeing evidence of a major crime ring in his goods had made him well aware how much the ANBU would suspect him as a culprit. His flustered tone turned into one of bargaining and pleas.  
>" You have to believe when i say these aren't mine. I mean Guys come on, do i look like a criminal?" Laughing through his words, the ANBU kept silent as they picked up and examined the evidence that fell from the cargo.<br>"Kotaru-San, because the evidence fell out of your luggage you are seen as a suspect. Do i believe you are the culprit? No. This is the work of someone far more devious and sneaky than you are."

A summoning scroll appeared as the captain took a few of each weapon and sealed it within the scroll.  
>Giving it to the member with the dog mask with definite instructions.<br>"take this scroll straight to the Hokage and have the poisons division examine the contents on the senbons, Explain the situation to Lady Tsunade and have her devise the next step in the plan. The rest of us should be though the gates by sundown, we're going to help Kotaru-San clean up and explain why the customers goods are slashed."

With a curt nod the ANBU member disappeared with a puff of smoke including the scroll and its contents.  
>Facing Kotaru, the captain offered his service in escorting the cart the rest of the way to the small town and offer his condolences to the shop owner who wouldn't be very impressed.<p>

"Thanks for the offer, kid. I don't know what I'd do without some moral support tryin' to explain to the shop keeper about her tea. She's a crank at the best of times. "

He managed to get close enough to slap the captain on the back, taking him by surprise and winding him. Loudly laughing he started to pick up the hessian bags and lay them back on the cart carefully, trying not to spill any more contents.

The ANBU set off with Kotaru to finish the journey before returning back to their home village of Konoha.  
>"Hey kid." Kotaru said in a gruff voice.<br>"I never did catch your name." Kotaru was talking to the captain.  
>"It's Tenzou"<br>"Well it's nice to meet you Tenzou"...

Not far away, hiding his chakra stood a lone boy, his pale skin contrasting with his dark hair and deep red eyes with spinning black commas.


End file.
